Clear Pond: The Reconstruction of a Life / Edition 1

by Roger Mitchell

Overview

The winner of the John Ben Snow Prize delves into the life of a 19th-century Adirondack millwright and arrives at a greater awareness of his own reality. Despite having developed patents for a type of sawmill, Israel Johnson was no one in particular, an everyman who died penniless.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815602576
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	05/28/1991
Series:	New York State
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	201
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.26(h) x 0.99(d)

Editorial Reviews

At the age of 45, poet Mitchell decided to learn more about the place where he'd grown up, New York State's Adirondack region. In his research, he found a name, place and date in a diary: Israel Johnson had built a sawmill at Clear Pond in 1836. Would it be possible to reconstruct this man's life and times? In an intensive five-year search, Mitchell talked to historians and librarians; studied census reports, deed books and war records; traced family members and searched the National Archives. We rejoice when, in 1986, he meets an 87-year-old great-grandson of Israel Johnson in the town of Adirondack. A remarkable piece of historical detective work and an engaging story, Mitchell's account offers valuable information for others pursuing genealogical questions. Photos. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Examines the life of an ordinary pioneer settler in the 19th century Adirondack wilderness, New York. Winner of the 1990 John Ben Snow Prize. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews